Parker expands ParkerStore network in the UK

The ParkerStore network, operated by Parker Hannifin is expanding rapidly in the UK, with three new stores opening in the last year alone. In total there are now 3000 stores worldwide, with the new ParkerStore at Artcom Tradebridge in Auchterarder, Perthshire, being the latest to open its doors to customers in the industrial, construction, forestry and farming sectors.

Artcom Tradebridge specialises in the manufacture, hire and sales of 8x8 and all-terrain vehicles, backed by dedicated aftersales and technical services. Sandy Patullo, Store Champion of Artcom Tradebridge, states: "Our goal is to help customers improve their business productivity and profitability, using our advanced off-road vehicles and equipment, and our range of support facilities which ensure that customers' machinery operates reliably and efficiently. Fast access to high-quality, branded spare parts and components is therefore crucial to all of our customers and we see the new ParkerStore playing a core role in this aspect of our business".

The ParkerStore concept is a tool for helping key independent distributors expand their business operations and a method of getting Parker's extensive range of products to end users even more quickly and efficiently. Each ParkerStore provides a large retail space where customers can easily find Parker products and benefit from the technical knowledge of specially trained onsite staff, who, in turn, can call on specialists from Parker for additional applications or product support.

New retail area

Patullo says the ParkerStore "Represents an exciting new venture, enabling us to expand our existing plant sales, hire and service business, with a complementary facility that we believe will open up many new opportunities in the future.

"We have expanded and developed part of our site to create a completely new retail space, with extra jobs, and have invested in a wide range of stock lines. Key to this has been the support that we have received from Parker; this has included assistance in designing and setting up the retail area, with a full range of branded point of sale, displays and shop fittings, plus technical and product training, and ongoing marketing and sales support to help us launch the store to customers in central and southern Scotland."

Richard Fenner, Business Development Manager for ParkerStore in the UK, adds: "The ParkerStore programme offers all our distribution partners a proven business model that they can develop for use in their local areas. It delivers real value to the store operator and their customers. It also brings Parker technology and expertise within easy reach of everybody involved in the field of motion and control, regardless of whether they run a large industrial site, manage a smaller maintenance, construction or commercial vehicle operation, or are simply an occasional user of spares or component parts. In addition, as a business, we are rolling out an aggressive growth programme in the UK and our ParkerStores form a key element in this process."